In reading the different forums, I noticed several people talking about heartburn so I decided to take a poll and see what it shows.

I wasn't referring to PPIs and calcium but sleeves and calcium. Any sleeved person is going to produce less acid and therefore they should be taking Ca Citrate.

LOL, I wasn't responding to what you wrote so I was confused at this response... had to read back on the thread. LMAO. At any rate, I agree!

Was your hiatal hernia repaired prior to, or during your VSG surgery?

Did they use a screen when they repaired your HH?

Did you have a hiatal hernia repair when you were sleeved?

"Any sleeved person is going to produce less acid and therefore they should be taking Ca Citrate."

I've been wondering if this reduced acid leads to long term, less effective absorption of nutrients in sleeve patients. Anyone know?

Osteoporosis is a well-known side-effect of partial gastrectomies. Hence, the recommendation to supplement.

There is less intrinsic factor too. For a minority, this makes it harder to absorb B12. Another rare, but known side-effect that is related to nutrition is anemia.

However, most of the micronutrients are absorbed in the intestines so having a small stomach shouldn't be a big issue. I haven't been able to find any studies showing any other common nutritional issues with partial gastrectomies when I was doing my sleeve research. (There's always that one guy that everything happens to, of course.)

I searched on partial gastrectomies because there is more data on them. The problem with that is that these partial gastrectomies are often done on people with a normal weight and/or the pylorus valve gets removed. That makes them slightly less applicable to us. But it's the best data I've found. (I found 6 pages of results -- about 25% of them relevant when using "partial gastrectomy" and 4 entries, none of them relevant when using "vertical gastrectomy" as my search term.)

Here is an example of the sort of study I found:

[Nutritional evaluation in patients with total and...[Rev Gastroenterol Peru. 2008 Jul-Sep] - PubMed Result

CONCLUSIONS: Malnutrition was not an inevitable consequence of a gastrectomy and may be prevented. The incidence of anemia in this group of patients has high, while other biochemical parameters such as albumin level and total Proteins were not so affected.

This study included people with Total Gastrectomies and they were the ones with the most problems, btw.

Edited August 25, 200917 yr by MacMadame

I have been getting fairly bad reflux latley I am on 20mg of somac daily but I am interested to read McM say she has back pain. I have a sore back in my right shoulder blade. Can these be related??

If you still have your gallbladder, and if it flares up, it is common to have pain under the right shoulder blade.

If that's the case, see your doc as soon as possible.

Nope my gallbladder is long gone!

The pain I have is in the lower back on the left. It's right where the bottom of the lung would be.

Ck with your doctor.

I heard on the Dr. Oz show that Himalayan salt is good for heartburn.

My situation isn't covered by any of the choices. I had no trouble with heartburn for the first 6-7 months. Now I have what I consider "pre-heartburn." Which is to say my throat is often sore or raw feeling, but there isn't that traditional burning sensation lower down.

I suspect I'm making more acid these days for some reason. The pain in my back that went away when my hiatal hernia was repaired is also back and the two things together concern me.

Are you perhaps eating closer than 3 hours before bedtime the night before you notice these symptoms? It sounds like Gerd to me. Not something that I'd just let slide by unless it is real infrequent. Persistant acid in the esophagus can cause serious long term consequences. If this is persistant I'd be sure to stay on a good PPI, follow all the GERD rules, AND talk with my provider about an esophogram.

Are you still taking a PPI?

I had my 4 month checkup not too long ago, complete with all my lab results. My Dr. said to cut back on the calcium because it could be causing my heartburn, and to take 2 Prilosec (morning and bedtime) instead of just one.

I take a Prilosec everyday, that keeps myheartburn in check. I also take a couple of Rolaids before I go to bed.

I had severe acid reflux in years past, it had gone away for a couple of years pre-surgery, and now it's back. It's not a big deal, really, other than the expense of buying omeprazole (generic Prilosec), because it adds up fast when I'm taking 40mg twice a day. Fortunately, I'm getting a prescription for it; the co-pay isn't nearly as much as buying OTC is. The other thing is I've learned very, very fast that the biggest thing causing heartburn for me is when I get the munchies in the evening and indulge it. So, I either get something to drink now, like Crystal Light or Water, or snack on some fresh vegetables or a small amount of fresh fruit. That seems to take care of any problems with acid reflux, and I've started keeping Tums at my bedside, so if I wake up with it in the middle of the night, I chomp a couple of them, wait fifteen minutes, and go back to sleep.